Burton Ride Service Delivers (For Me)

by Kevin Burton    The following is a product/service review for the Burton Ride Service, located in South Central Kansas.    The service was formally established in 2012. Terms and conditions for this service are written between the lines of a 2012 marriage license obtained in Sedgwick County, Kansas.    This review is written and …

Video Killed Your Imagination, Not Radio

I think I’m done writing about MTV and Clear Channel for the moment, but I have one more thought on that Buggles tune, “Video Killed The Radio Star.”     I raised the question without answering it in my Friday story: “If you could get your favorite top 40 hits, with pictures, moving pictures, wouldn’t that …

Any Day, Anytime, Anyplace

by Kevin Burton    You pays your money, you takes your chances.    If we’re being honest, is that not a suitable tagline for the post-national United States?    Isn’t that phrase a lot more indicative of the American experience than say “land of the free, home of the brave?”    Now that phrase is …

Discrimination By The Slice At Papa John’s

by Kevin Burton    Papa John’s Pizza is being sued by the federal government for employment discrimination against a blind man, according to published accounts.    This story has been widely reported. Much of my information comes from a story by Michael E. Kanell in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.      Thought I would mention this …

Spoonful’s John Sebastian Turns 79

by Kevin Burton     Happy 79th birthday to the personable multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter John Sebastian.    Both his music and his personality seem accessible, based on how he comes off in interviews on You Tube. I mean, here’s a rock and roller who plays the auto harp of all things. He said he learned the instrument …

Old Times, Springtime And Baseball Cards

by Kevin Burton     Mid-March, this time of year. In the old days, when it wasn’t quite time for baseball, it was time for baseball cards.     Growing up at the school for the blind in Ohio in the 70s, with the gloom and chill of February fading, with temperatures perhaps in the high 40s …

A New Take On Taxis And Guide Dogs

   If you are blind and use a guide dog for travel, this story is all too familiar to you.   This comes from Calgary, Alberta, courtesy CBC News.        “A Calgary cab company has fined and temporarily suspended one of its drivers for refusing to give a ride this week to a blind woman …

Suit Alleges Discrimination By Blind Agency

by Kevin Burton    Some of the government and non-profit agencies which ostensibly serve the blind, really don’t.    If I said these agencies had “blind spots” that would be a clever play on words. But many of them are willfully blind, no blind spot about it.    What you often see is an agency …

Buddy Holly’s Visual And Musical Acuity

by Kevin Burton    I have never seen a picture of Buddy Holly without his thick glasses, but I never have pondered whether he was legally blind until now.    He probably was not, by the way, though he had poor vision. More about that in a bit.    This comes up today on the …

Blind BBC Reporter Gets Best Of Mugger

by Kevin Burton    A blind BBC reporter, retrieved his cell phone from a mugger and restrained the assailant until help arrived, multiple sources reported in late December.    “Wrong blind person, wrong day,” said Sean Dilley, a blind news reporter and project lead for the BBC’s Reframing Disability program.    Dilley was taking a …